by A.F., Survival Blog:
(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.)
Two is one right? In addition to the filter in each kit, a water purifier was included. The difference between the pair is that a filter is uses mechanical or physical means to restrict the passage of solids (dirt or microorganisms) to achieve safety. A purifier in contrast uses chemical or ultra-violet methods to sterilize water. The Aqua Research H2gO purifier uses brine (here it is table salt dissolved in water) electrolysis to generate a concentrated chlorine solution that is mixed into your source water to disinfect it. This is very similar to the oft-referenced use of plain bleach or specific swimming pool shock products to disinfect water for consumption.
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Although I do not know the specifics of this unit’s mechanics, I spent a considerable time working with larger brine electrolysis units early in my career. By surrounding a pair of oppositely charged electrodes with a salt water solution, the disassociated sodium and chlorine ions can recombine in the aqueous (water as solvent) solution to form dissolved chlorine gas, chlorine dioxide, sodium hydroxide and possibly hydrogen peroxide. The addition of an ion permeable membrane between the electrodes can influence the quantity of each compound produced, though my research did not find evidence that the H2gO uses one.
Aqua Research’s purifier has an estimated life span of 10,000 cycles where a cycle is capable of generating enough chlorine solution to treat between 1 and 20 liters. A minimum contact time of 20 minutes is recommended, though I encouraged our family members to mix the chlorine into five gallons and wait over night as certain protozoa oosts (eggs) require extended contact times to achieve inactivation (the EPA and Aqua Research recognize four hours of contact time at a free chlorine concentration of 4 mg/L (same as 4 parts per million) as the minimum time sufficient for oost sterilization).
The H2gO kit includes a brine mixing bottle and a set of chlorine test strips. We included additional test strips and went through the operation of the units with mom, dad, sister and nieces when we gave them their starter kits. Lastly, the purifier unit has a built-in solar charger for the internal battery and is also rechargeable via USB.
The final portions of the water treatment system were a collapsible Reliance brand 5-gallon water container with a selection of food grade tubing to adapt the Reliance spout to the Sawyer Squeeze filters in line barbed adapters and a set of food grade five gallon buckets with lids. The assembled system as designed would then consist of the collapsable Reliance jug placed on an elevated position such as a countertop top filled with untreated water tied to the Squeeze filter element via clear rubber tubing reducing in size from ½ inch inside diameter down to ¼ inch ID. A second section of ¼ inch tubing leads from the discharge side of the Sawyer into one of the clean 5-gallon buckets where the filtered water is collected for disinfection by mixing in the chlorine products generated by the H2gO. The chlorinated water can be given a stir, tested using one of the chlorination strips and then capped with the bucket lid to fully disinfect overnight before drinking or cooking with the following day.
In order to make this system function better, I explained using the “cleanest” source water possible and suggested pre-filtering through a towel or cheese cloth held in a colander and pointed out that the filtration system was closed so pressure would need to be added atop the collapsable water jug to generate water flow. My recommendation was to add books to the top of the jug.
